National Journal: “Global oil markets would be more volatile without the fracking-enabled U.S. production surge of recent years, according to the Energy Department’s statistical arm.”

“Here’s an EIA chart that shows how U.S. production is counterbalancing oil production taken offline elsewhere:”

Environmental concerns continue to plague this method of extracting natural gas. The Wall Street Journal reports that “Pennsylvania has for the first time released details of 243 cases in which companies prospecting for oil or gas were found by state regulators to have contaminated private drinking water wells.”

In a related story, Fuel Fix reports that “the Obama administration is on track to impose new mandates governing hydraulic fracturing on public land by the end of the year.”

“The measure … will update rules governing drilling on federal and Indian land for the first time in three decades. It also is set to be the first major federal rule governing [fracking].”

“Written by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, the rule is focused on boosting the integrity of wells to ensure fluids are contained within them, ensuring recovered fluids are safely stored and forcing disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing on public lands.”